Nissho Iwai Awarded With Contract by State of California

The new Hitachi pumps will replace four units installed in the late 1960s when the Edmonston pumping plant was first built by DWR as part of the California State Water Project. The SWP, which delivers water to more than two-thirds of California’s population, is considered to be one of the greatest engineering achievements built during the 20th Century. The massive, modern facilities of this water storage and delivery system include 700 miles of aqueduct, the tallest earth-fill dam in the Western Hemisphere, and the highest pumplift (Edmonston) in the world.

Located in the San Joaquin Valley of California, the Edmonston pumping plant is used to lift water almost 2,000 feet up and over the Tehachapi Mountains into Southern California. At peak capacity, the plant pumps almost 2 million gallons a minute through 10 miles of pipeline across the mountains. The first pump at Edmonston was started by then governor Ronald Reagan on October 8, 1971 as part of a ceremony celebrating the first water deliveries to Southern California.

Each new Hitachi vertical centrifugal pump will have 315 cubic feet per second flow capacity at 1,970 feet rated head. The first phase of the contract involves designing and fabricating a four-stage pump model and a single-stage pump model and furnishing a pump model test program report. After successful completion of the model phase, the four new pumps will be designed, fabricated, delivered, and installed.

Nissho Iwai American Corporation has, for more than 30 years, played an active and significant role in supplying special design waterworks machinery to the Department of Water Resources and other customers throughout the state and the country. Many of the state’s most important and visible water projects contain equipment furnished by NIAC, bearing the nameplates of such highly regarded companies as Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Fuji Electric, Kurimoto, and other Japanese manufacturers who have earned strong reputations in this competitive and demanding field.

Hitachi Ltd., one of only two companies in the world considered qualified by DWR to build the Edmonston pumps, has been a leading manufacturer of custom design machinery for over 100 years.

It is said that by the year 2020, nearly 50 million people will live in California. The replacement of four pumps at Edmonston is one step among many that will be taken to ensure that the ever-increasing need for water is met. Nissho Iwai and Hitachi are ready to make their contribution to this historic work.